The Bulleying Incident
by Asher Elric
Summary: After Yahiko runs into some trouble, it is up to Kenshin to Mentor the young boy and help him get stronger.
1. Episode 1  Market Place Disaster!

Summary – Yahiko may be the first Apprentice of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, however, sometimes, he still has to deal with things that only a child can understand.

Disclaimer- I don't own anything.

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**The Bullying Incident**

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It was a normal day for Tokyo; the market was in full swing of people haggling over materials that came from over seas or from locals. Himura Kenshin made his way through this crowd with a basket. It made him look like a moron, to be honest, but he hardly cared. For as a Rurouni, he hardly ever cared what anyone thought about him.

Behind him Yahiko followed, he kept an eye on the red headed Ronin while they walked through the crowded street – around him he could pick out the people who were up to no good. But since non of them bothered him and Kenshin, than it hardly mattered.

However, when he looked up, and couldn't find Kenshin, a pang of worry stabbed his heart. But, then he remembered that he was Tokyo's Samurai, and that made him walk straighter than before. He looked around once more, hoping to catch red hair and a pink gi, but the man had disappeared and Yahiko swore under his breath.

"Why does he always have to do that?" he muttered as he made his way toward the Akabeko, he and Kenshin were supposed to meet Kaoru and Sano there. So he thought it would be better to go straight to the meeting place instead of trying to find Kenshin himself.

His irritation rose as he had to go through a huge crowd of people.

"This is stupid," he sighed. He looked around for a way to bypass these people. It was then that he saw the alley way, he knew the back streets of Tokyo like the back of his hand, and so, he knew that the alley way would connect to another street that would get him to the Akabeko while also bypassing the market completely.

* * *

Hotaka was bored, and since he was bored than so were the other boys. The gang consisted of three boys, Hotaka, the oldest by six months, Ichiro, the second oldest by three months, and then there was the youngest, Kaito. They were all orphans because their parents had died some time ago. It had been a year since these boys met and they made a scrapping of a life.

Pick-pockets, all of them, they would do what they could and then pool their money for something to eat, or they would just steal it anyway. They hung out in this alley way between the Beef Pot place and the Market Place. It was the quickest way to get to either place. Sometimes, if they were lucky and they waited long enough they could sneak into the back of the Akabeko to get some good food. But half the time they had to go through the trash.

Hotaka was the first to see the boy in the yellow gi, he had a wooden sword strapped to his back and he looked to be in a rush. Hotaka pointed the boy out to Kaito and Ichiro. They decided, that since they were so bored, they'd at least have a bit of fun.

"Hey, you!" Hotaka yelled at the kid, "You have to pay if you want to pass through," he said.

"What? Are you crazy?" the boy gave him a look.

"You better do what the boss said, or else!" Kaito piped up.

"Oh, go to hell, like I'm gonna pay you to use an alley way that I have all ready used several times before!" the boy waved his hand at them as if he knew everything.

"Well, now you do," Ichiro said.

"Oh yeah…?"

"Yeah, get him boys!" Hotaka yelled.

* * *

"Damn, damn, damn…" Yahiko muttered on his way home. He had been beaten up plenty of times, and he was pretty good with his bokken the only problem was he honestly never really did fight a group of people. Those guys who had been trying to rob the family of the Akabeko were scared off by Sano and Kenshin, though, Yahiko did put up a good fight. His problem, Kamiya Kasshin didn't actually teach you how to fight a group of people. It was more, one on one.

Not to mention, those boys had taken all the money the he had gotten from Tai at the Akabeko for working for her all that week. He was going to spend it on a present for Kaoru, but now he had nothing and her birthday was in two days.

_How am I going to get more money?_he wondered to himself as he walked on. He didn't even realize the he had walked passed Saitou who saw the broken sword that Yahiko dragged on the ground with his head hanging as he did so. He was only brought out of his thoughts when he finally got back to the Dojo. There, he saw that Kenshin was sitting on the porch and that Kaoru was nowhere in site.

"Yahiko-kun, what happened to you…?" Kenshin asked.

"I…well…it's hard to explain…" Yahiko started.

"Why don't I get the bath started for you, you need to change into a new gi, that you do…and…your bokken is broken," Kenshin said, his voice suddenly turned stern.

"It was an accident," Yahiko said.

"Really…?" Kenshin gave him a looked that said plainly that he didn't believe a word Yahiko had said.

"Hai," Yahiko replied, knowing full well and good that he was lying to the man he considered a father. But, it wasn't as bad as the time he had taken Kenshin's sword without his knowing and therefore putting Kenshin into a dangerous predicament.

"All right, this one will go get the bath ready for you," and with that, he walked off. Yahiko hurried to his bedroom to hide the broken sword, maybe he could bind it back together again or something of that nature. Of course, the store house had loads of bokken's. He could switch it during the night and Kaoru wouldn't know the difference. But what if Kenshin said something about it…?

Deciding not to worry about it, and heeding Kenshin call, Yahiko hurried to go get into the bath that Kenshin had nicely prepared for him. Kenshin just gave him a smile, a smile that Yahiko couldn't place when he passed to enter the bath house.

* * *

"I wonder if I should talk to him," Kenshin muttered. He had returned to the dojo to make dinner. He had worried over this since he had first seen Yahiko and knew that the boy had lied to him. Kenshin could feel the boys chi grow anxious when he had spoken. Kenshin always knew when someone was lying to him, however, he wasn't Yahiko's father, he couldn't really….

"I could though, besides Sano, this one is the only one that Yahiko looks up too…"

True, he figured that Yahiko must look up to him. Most young swords people who were learning usually looked up to those who all ready mastered an art. Kenshin sighed as he started to cut up some carrots. He figured that Yahiko looked up to him like that after he had saved Kaoru and Yahiko from the Yakuza. It wasn't all that hard, really, all he had to do was raise enough hell.

Yakuza boss' were the sort that wanted to keep what they had, cut their losses and go on with life; Kenshin had been counting on that little detail when he had gone after Kaoru and Yahiko – knowing that if they could, the Yakuza would take advantage of Kaoru-dono – making her do terrible things because she had tried to save Yahiko.

Her innocence was not to be tarnished!

**THWACK!** Kenshin cut a carrot in half violently.

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**"**Oh man! Kaoru is going to kill me," Yahiko muttered as he looked at the broken sword in front of him. It had splintered badly and was totally useless. He shook his head as he fell over, not knowing exactly what to do nor how to do it.

"Yahiko-kun, may I come in?"

It was Kenshin, he had the shoji open slightly and he wasn't about to leave. Yahiko nodded at the man and Kenshin, as quietly as the manslayer he had once been, entered the room.

"Kaoru-dono is asleep, is there anything you want to talk about?" Kenshin asked.

"What…er – no, not really…"

"Don't lie to me, Yahiko, it does not suite you," Kenshin said gently. Yahiko looked at the floor.

"What if…what if you found that you are weak….again…?"

"In what way? As in not being able to help someone?" Kenshin asked.

"No, not being able to help yourself,"

"You can always help yourself,"

"But…what if…what if you have done something all your life, and all of a sudden, someone takes it from you…wouldn't you be mad? Like, if another Rurouni came and took your laundry, wouldn't you want to take your sword and hit him?"

"Well…this one cannot say that he wouldn't be mad, that this one wouldn't. However…why would he want to take the laundry?"

"Damn it! Kenshin! It was just an example!"

"SHHHHHH!!! Kaoru-dono is sleeping," Kenshin reminded his young charge.

"Right, Gomen,"

"All right then, will you please tell this one what is going on and what your odd questions are about?"

"It's complicated,"

"Try me, maybe I can help you,"

"Fine, I got into a fight today,"

"I knew that," Kenshin replied.

"They beat me up and broke my bokken, then they said I was pathetic,"

"Oh, so you ran into some bullies?" Kenshin asked.

"Well, yes, I suppose so,"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Kenshin asked.

"Get stronger, figure out how to fight a crowd and then go beat their asses," Yahiko replied.

"A bit violent, don't you think?"

"No!"

"All right, all right, I can see you aren't going to listen to me," Kenshin sighed.

"Whatever makes you think that I don't listen to you?"

"I'm not sure, that I'm not," Kenshin shrugged.

"Well, I do listen, just not so that you know," Yahiko said then he slapped his hands over his mouth.

"Yahiko-kun…I'll tell you something if you promise to not tell anyone else," Kenshin said.

"I promise, you can count on me!" Yahiko looked at him excitedly.

TBC

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A/n -- LOL I did that on purpose. Please review! 


	2. Episode 2 Kenshin's Turn

A/N - To Mortimerscross, Animeshoujo, and Dark Hearted Shinobi. This is for you. Enjoy and thank you!

**The Bullying Incident**

**Part 2 **

Weekly grocery shopping was his favorite chore. Of course he'd never tell Hiko that. The long walk from the small mountain hut to Kyoto below was always something Kenshin enjoyed. He had his practice sword at his side, and on nice, summer days - he could feel the peaceful, natural Chi of the forest. It was different from his Master's Chi. The Chi that made him feel safe, despite the violence of it at times.

Kenshin took a long deep breath of city air as he passed from forest to city. The transition was swift, painful mostly and almost made him regret that fact that they lived so close to Kyoto, the epicenter of the Shogun's power. Everywhere one looked, there were Samurai going about their business. School for sword training could be found easily - one, could also find many foes to eradicate.

Kenshin's gentle soul didn't want to fight. He hadn't puzzled out why he was training under Hiko. He knew that fighting was necessary in life, if you were going to survive, you'd best be better than your opponent, but it was also important to protect people around you. That was why, when the red-headed Student saw the group of boys, with their toy swords, beating up a smaller child. Kenshin didn't hesitate.

He didn't know their names, but he hardly cared. He put on hand on the hilt of his training sword, it had an edge, not enough to cut, but it could do some damage. He tried to imitate Hiko in body stance and tone of voice. Feet, shoulder length apart, one slightly in front of the other. Shoulder's back, eyes with a gaze that is slightly amused, but confident nonetheless.

"What exactly is going on here?" Kenshin's tone of voice, sure, of course. He didn't call it pride, his moves may still need work, but even with his limited experience of only fighting his Sensei and no other swordsman, gave Kenshin a slight in sight to the fighting style of the children before him. They were inexperienced and probably learning at some local school. One where they were possibly at the lowest level.

"What is it to you? This kid asked for it," the tallest one, who was also rather fat and looked a bit dim in the eyes, spat at Kenshin.

"I do not care what he has done to you, beating someone up just because you can is no excuse," Kenshin replied. The words, though summarized for this child, echoed in his head. The words Hiko had lectured him on just the evening before.

"_Just because you can use a sword does not mean that you have the privilege to go about and beating people into submission. Swordsmanship is an honorable trade, and if you cannot learn this lesson, than you truly must be as stupid as I say you are…!"_

"Ha!" the kid laughed, his gelatin belly bounced with each intake of breathe. The child on the ground saw his chance and took it, but he hid behind Kenshin instead of running down the street as Kenshin had first thought the child would do.

"What sort of brain defect do you have? Don't you know who he is?"

Kenshin shook his head. He didn't know and he didn't care, he knew he was better, the Chi he sensed told him so.

"That's Katsuro Haruki, the son of Katsuro Haruto, he'll beat you up! His father is the best Swordsman in Kyoto!"

"And what is your name?" Kenshin asked.

"Minoru," the boy replied.

"Do not worry, Minoru-kun," Kenshin replied. The boy gave Kenshin a panicked looked and stepped away as Kenshin took a step forwards. Now, Haruki didn't like this. He was used to people bowing and scraping to him in order to get the favor of his father. This idiot, however, was different. He held himself differently and Haruki didn't like it one bit.

"What are you going to do? I bet you can't even use that sword!" he pointed to Kenshin's own practice sword, then he patted his belt, "Chichi said that I'm to have a real Japanese sword, this week even," he smirked.

"Be that as it may, but I shall not allow this abuse to go one any further, now please - Apologize to Minoru-Kun or taste the ground before my feet," Kenshin said, his voice firm, meaning business. Just like Hiko-Sensei when he was getting pissed. It meant to back off and just do as you are told and in the end it will save you a lot of trouble.

However, when a person thought that they were better than you - no matter what tone you used, no matter how many warnings one gave - they usually paid no heed. Kenshin had no problem with this, he couldn't win against Hiko-Sensei, he was still a bit wobbly on his landings, but the simplest move could defeat this whale.

"When I get done cutting you up! You'll wish you never met me!"

The Battle Chi, or what was meant to be Battle Chi - didn't impress Kenshin at all. Used to battling Hiko, Kenshin was surprised at how slow Haruki moved. His stance was all wrong, his grip on his sword was weak, and Kenshin broke the stance with a stab of his sheathed sword, sending the boy flying backwards and rolling into his 'friends' which in turn sent the, sprawling all over the otherwise quiet street.

"K'so!" Minoru cursed, Kenshin didn't bother to turn to see what Minoru was cursing about, Hiko-Sensei had taught him to never become distracted, to always have one eye on your enemies, at all times.

Haruki stumbled to his feet, red in the face and cursing like Kenshin had only seen Hiko do when he accidentally cut himself shaving. He picked up his Shinai and brandished it at Kenshin; "I'm going to kill you for that!"

"With a wooden sword you can't even use properly?" Kenshin asked, play at being confused, but was secretly amused by the threat, "I'd like to see how you plan to do that!"

"You bastard!" Haruki ran forward, giving a battle cry. Once again, Kenshin saw how slow the boy was, either it was his training with a man who was faster with a sword and he had grown used to the Speed of the Gods - or the boy's weight was a detriment to whatever homicidal thoughts raced through his head. Either way, Kenshin easily stepped out of each attack.

Down swing, Upper cut, swing across, jab and pull back. Kenshin could see it so easily, and he wasn't surprised that Haruki seemed to think that this would work, each time he tried it, even though Kenshin jumped this way and that. He let the amusement show in his eyes. He laughed as Haruki stumbled.

"What's so funny you bastard?" Haruki asked, breathing heavily and seething. His face was as red as a tomato, which sent Kenshin into more hysterics.

"Nothing, nothing, but, when are you going to kill me?" he asked.

"Why you…!" This time, whatever movements Haruki was trying for, failed, miserably. Kenshin didn't know what sort of Kata they were supposed to be, it was too random, as if the boy was trying for something he had seen older students or his Sensei do in their practices.

Kenshin, not once, had to unsheathe his sword. It was easy to jump out of the way, perch on the tip of the Shinai, and tease or goad as he saw fit. His laughing did the work for him most of the time. Finally, Kenshin looked down at the boy, who was miserably gasping for breath, sprawled on his back, and unable to get to his feet.

"Well, that wasn't fun at all, I barely broke you a sweat, you are foolish indeed if you think that was any sort of challenge!" Kenshin parroted his Sensei's words. The boy didn't say anything as Kenshin turned away. Minoru followed Kenshin past the gang of kids.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"No where, really," Kenshin shrugged.

"You're inviting trouble, I hope you know,"

"Are you hurt?"

"No,"

"Good, than I've done my job," Kenshin replied and then he greeted a Stall Owner who called out to him.

* * *

Kenshin didn't see Minoru for two weeks after, till one day, on his usual shopping day - he came across the boy who had a broken arm, a black eye and was crying in the street.

"Come," Kenshin helped the boy to his feet.

"I know someone who can take care of that for you," he said gently.

- - -

"What!?" Yahiko groaned, "You're just going to leave it there?"

Kenshin gave a wide yawn; "This one is tired, that he is, it will be best if we finish this on another day," Kenshin smiled. Yahiko rolled his eyes. One way or another he'd get Kenshin to finish the story.

TBC


End file.
